I had been eagerly waiting this second book in the Emerald Sisters Series, and I was not disappointed . It is such a beautifully written portrayal of the injustices faced by the Jewish people during WWII. While not overly graphic, the story is rich in feelings, relationships, loss, and at times hope. This is the story of the second friend, Rosa, one of the Emerald Sisters, separated from the others but with a promise to reunite after the war.
A must read for all those who enjoy historical fiction. I cannot wait for the third book.

Four young Jewish women meet in 1939 aboard the St Louis, the ship that took one thousand Jews from Germany to Cuba, where they were denied entry. Sent back to Europe, Rosa and her pompous parents are granted refuge in England.
Sophie was sponsored by someone in the US, Hannah goes to France, and Rachel is accepted in the Netherlands. This is book two in the series. I have not read book one, which is Sophie’s story. After a rough start, Rosa’s life improves, but we’ll need books three and four to know how she and the others manage through the war.

THE GIRL WITH A SECRET is the second novel in The Emerald Sisters series by KATE HEWITT. There is quite a bit of repetitian of book one in the first seven chapters, but this time things are looked at from Rosa and her family’s persective. This means the novel can easily be read as a stand alone, although I suggest you read the first novel as it is really worth reading.
It is heartbreaking to see how the Jews were treated by the Nazis, but there is hope as we see how Rosa Herzelfeld and her family make the best of their new life in England after their ship was turned back from Cuba.
All through her hardships Rosa holds tightly to the piece of emerald that unites her to her three friends, looking forward to reuniting with them in at Henri’s when the war is over.
From prison on the Isle of Man, where she and her family are sent because of her father’s dealings with the Nazis, to Cockfosters Camp where she finds Peter Gelb who she became friendly with in London during her time of learning English at the Jewish Day Centre and washing dishes at the Lyons tearoom, she works hard for her family and for the British war effort, but “She could never forget the prison of her memories,” and is afraid her secret will come out……
The novel is full of emotion and psychological warfare. There is also forgiveness and a sense of restoration and new beginnings.
I am looking forward to book three in the series.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bookouture. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Bookoutre, and Kate Hewitt for the advanced reader copy of the book. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

This is the second book in Kate Hewitt’s Emerald Sisters series about four girls who meet on the SS St. Louis, trying to escape the Nazis in Germany. The ship was well-known for the fact that it was turned away from so many places with a complement of passengers who were Jews trying to escape the Holocaust. In the first book, The Girl on the Boat, we met all four girls but only followed the story of Sophie as she was able to disembark before the ship headed back to Europe and carve out a life for herself in the United States.

This second book follows Rosa. She was leaving Germany with her parents. Her father was a wealthy doctor in Germany and used to being the center of attention. Still, when the Nazis took over their home, even he was forced to leave the country. When the SS St. Louis is turned away from Cuba, Rosa and her parents don’t know where they will end up. Eventually, they are allowed to enter England.

Arriving in London, they are given an apartment in a Jewish neighborhood, which is a big step down from what they are used to. The Jewish refugee agency that found the place for them will only pay the first month’s rent, and there will be another family residing with them eventually. Her father goes to try to see what became of the money he was allowed to send out of the country and finds out it has disappeared.

Rosa seems to be the only one in her family with a grip on reality as she finds work in a coffee shop washing dishes. Her mother sits in a chair by the window, while her father pontificates to other refugees and considers learning English and sitting again for medical exams beneath him. Rosa also begins attending English classes, and that is where she meets Peter, a fellow refugee who was maimed by the Nazis at one of the camps.

However, Rosa is carrying a guilty secret. That secret could threaten everything about the life she has in London. Rosa wonders if she confessed the secret to her friends from the ship and if they would even like her anymore. She is afraid to admit the truth to Peter or anyone. Yet, secrets from the past have a way of coming back to haunt people.

I liked The Girl With a Secret as much as I liked the first book. I was guessing what her secret was, and I actually thought it was much worse than it turned out to be. Still, it had an impact on the family as a whole. However, once it was out in the open and they could talk about it, things got better for all of them.

Rosa didn’t have a great relationship with her parents. That was clear in the first book. Here, it’s the same for a while. Rosa sees her parents as selfish, preening prima donnas. They think living as they do in London is somehow beneath them, while Rosa will do what needs to be done to survive. Her mother breaks her heart with her selfishness, but her father comes to her rescue. At the same time, she knows her father’s faults and doesn’t like them either. She is caught between them, not really liking either of them, yet somehow feeling responsible for them.

The story moved along quite well and I enjoyed it. I did have some difficulty following the time changes. At the beginning of a chapter, there would be a date, but during the chapters' time would jump a bit and I’d forget what year we were in as I waited for certain events I knew from history to take place. That was the only difficulty I had with the book. Otherwise, I thought it flowed nicely and created multi-dimensional people who did have the capacity to learn from their mistakes.

If you like historical fiction, particularly the World War II era, this is a good book in a good series so far. The characters are well-fleshed-out and fun to follow. They grow with the circumstances and change in a way you might not expect.

Following Rosa Herzelfeld boards the St Louis with her parents to set sail for Cuba believing that this is the beginning of a new life for them, then on reaching their destination they are refused permission to leave ship. Some of the destinations mentioned as alternatives are America, France, Belgium and England. Does it really matter which, at least they will be safe from the Nazis. The same one that her father fraternised with, will those secrets come back to haunt them?
Rosa becomes friendly with another refugee, Peter Gelb who has more reason than some to hate the Nazis. Rosa has a deep secret that she’d rather not have to reveal. When there is a change in her circumstances she may be forced to divulge the details!

While I enjoyed the storyline of this book I felt it was repetitive at the beginning, especially after having just read book 1, and felt the story ended much too soon.

The Girl With a Secret is the second of two books dealing with refugees attempting to escape Nazi Germany.

Rosa Herzelfeld and her family escaped to England, desperately trying to make a new life. The tale of Rosa and her struggles were reverting. I thoroughly enjoyed the history. Unfortunately, too much time was spent on rehashing the beginning of her story, which was covered in the first book of the series. If you’ve read the first book, it is repetitive.

I had hoped this second book would tie together what happened to Sophie in the first book, but that didn’t happen.

In the end of this book, the reader was again left hanging as to what happens to Rosa, and no third book in the series appears to be planned. Very disappointing.

A unforgettable and heartbreaking story. The resilience and impossible choices that had to be made.
The historical information aspect was very interesting and eye opening to read about.
As in the first book, the journey we are taken on is gripping and fascinating.
Searching for the promise of freedom and second chances.
This is the second book in the Emerald Sisters series. I do recommend reading the first book.

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was amazing. The story was so heart warming and very touching. I really loved reading this book. I would recommend this book!

This book… I’m still at a loss for words. Such a beautiful, powerful and emotional story. THIS BOOK IS AMAZING!!! I feel like I just finished running a marathon…

This is book number 2 in the emerald sisters series, and in this book we follow rosa. What I appreciated about the book, it was interesting to see the secret unfolding, i liked the development in the characters , and I really enjoyed the sweet lovestory. But the book was a little bit too slow for me, and I was Just expecting more. But I Will still continue with the series.
Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

Wow...Rosa Herzelfeld, from the SS St. Louis, is the girl with a secret in this second book and it was much darker than I could have imagined. Even meeting her strangely glamorous parents in the first book didn't prepare me adequately. That said, this story takes us completely through the shameful voyage of the SS St. Louis and the despair of the passengers is palpable, as are the deteriorating living conditions when they are refused entry in port after port. Rosa's family ends up in England in decidedly worse circumstances than they are used to...and then things rapidly get worse. Because they arrived in England in 1938, this book gives fascinating insights into the lives of Jewish refugees before the war and in particular, German refugees when they are rounded up as enemy aliens once war is declared. (If you've read about the Anschluss in Vienna, you'll recognize Colonel Kendrick from the British Passport Office when he meets with Rosa for "war work.")

Besides all of the compelling historical information threaded throughout this story, Rosa and her mother's personal epiphanies will resonate with many women readers. Just like in the first book, this one begins with a prologue that has the girls meeting at the Paris cafe after the war has ended but there are only three of them now. I had hoped to figure out who didn't make it but...nope, I still don't know. We are given this tidbit when one of the unidentified girls says: "I never expected her to give her life for me...but she did." Like the first book, this one ends long before the end of the war with Rosa starting down a new and dangerous road, much like Sophie did. The emerald shard has become a talisman of hope & endurance....who survives? I look forward to reading another piece of the puzzle in the next book but I'll be sure to have a fresh box of tissues when I do. I highly recommend this gripping story.

A magnificent story, but cut short by the ads for Kate Hewitt’s other books before the war was over. I would have liked to know of Rosa succeeded with her spy training and survived to marry Peter. I also don’t think we needed the SS St. Louis recap from the first book. And what was German military intelligence the Abwehr doing on a civilian cruise ship?